Keys and Spacers done!

[Yuke2K]

Ah, finally. I've been talking about doing this for a long time, and it seems like I've had the parts for it for an eternity. But, Saturday night I finally got the opportunity to take advantage of a friend's lift at his tranny shop, and we got it all in. The modest lift combined with my new Terra Grapplers has my truck exactly where I want it...high enough for me to notice, and to clear the tires without rubbing....but not high enough for the wifey to notice! :lol:

While we were under the truck we changed out all of the fluids (front and rear diffs, T-case, trans and trans filter with a solvent bath for the pan, and the engine oil), and since it was a performance trans shop, Jon happened to have a couple of 'Vette servos on hand...so I had him throw one in while we were down there.

Sadly, I have no before pictures as my digital camera was MIA that night, and my phone's camera sucked with the low light in the shop. But, here's what I got yesterday morning. The pics don't do it justice, but it's at least a little bit of a height reference for those thinking of doing this mod:

Parts used:

1.5" coil spacers, $63 shipped on ebay

And Ford F-150 torsion keys, part number XL3Z-5B328-CA, roughly $24 each

(is it strange and slightly wrong to anyone else to see a FoMoCo part stamp under my GM truck?? Oh well, I'm over it. :thumbsup)

We got a solid 1.5" exactly out of the rear from the spacers, and about 2" in the front with some tweaking and adjustments. The rear spacers were amazingly easy to install with the truck on the lift and a trans jack under the rear diff. Just unbolt the lower shock bolt, and the swaybar...and you're good to go. Just watch those brake lines!

All told, I'm extremely happy. Jon said my truck is in outstanding shape for 101,000 miles. He was suprised when I told him it was a 2000, so thats a good thing I suppose. I'm keeping this truck until the wheels fall off! Anyone have some fender flares or a brush guard they want to get rid of?

 

[boostaholic]

Turned out nice dude! Anything wider on those wheels would look funny, the 285s are nice :cheers:

 

[Yuke2K]

Thanks man.

I'm extremely happy with it...I didn't think the lift on it was that pronounced at first, but I was at King Soopers today and a Tahoe Z71 parked next to me. When I came out, you definitely could tell. :cool2:

On the list still:

Flowmaster muffler
AEM Brute Force intake
BB Cable Tune
Tint
Brush guard

I was going to use some of my christmas bonus to take care of some of that list, but I came home from DDFL with this guy yesterday:

My wife said that he's pretty much my christmas present...but I'm perfectly ok with that. He is most certainly worthy of a good home - he's a great dog.

 

[bwilly20]

how time consuming was this install?


edit: and do you have a link for the keys? calm me an idiot, but i seem to be finding all the stuff i'm not looking for when i search that part # on the web.

 

[Yuke2K]

It didn't take more than a half hour to do both the keys and the spacers, but keep in mind that I had access to a vehicle lift since we did it all at the trans shop. I'd imagine that it would take quite a bit longer without a lift, but it's still quite possible to do in your driveway with the right tools and a bigass jack and jackstands.

As for the part number, go to www.directfordparts.com and type that number into the part number search. Under manufacturer, select Ford from the drill down menu, then click search. It will pull up a list of parts to the right. ALL OF THEM ARE THE SAME, even though the description is a little different. The only reason the description is different is because the search function looks at the mechanical AND the collision catalog, and pulls out the part number from both. Anything with that part number will be the same thing. Notice that all of the prices are the same - it's the same part, so don't worry.

The prices have gone up recently, the keys are over $28 each now. I got mine a few months ago for $24 each. But it's still a good price for the lift they give you.

 

[boostaholic]

Any shock issues? I'm gonna be putting some 5100s on my truck in the next month or so and I could always buy 8 of em.

 

[bwilly20]

thanks man

 

[Yuke2K]

Any shock issues? I'm gonna be putting some 5100s on my truck in the next month or so and I could always buy 8 of em.

Dude, those 5100s are SO on my list...but my wife just lost her job because of the company going downhill in this economy, so I'm totally strapped....she's just doing freelance web design and putting a sh*tton of crap up on ebay to help me make ends meet. How much can you get them for? I might be able to work something out after the first of the year when my bonus rolls in.

 

[Yuke2K]

thanks man

No problem bro. PM me if you need any help, and I'll do what I can.

 

[boostaholic]

I'll probably wait until I get my sh*t together to do a cam and converter so it could be march. I'd like to cut it up and be done with it so I may start stockpiling parts again. I'll let you know when I'm gonna get them or I'll just buy them all and you can come scoop them whenever.

 

[Yuke2K]

Sweet, sounds good man. Thanks. Shoot me a PM whenever you're ready to pull the trigger and we'll see whats up.

Is it hard to do a cam swap in one of these trucks? I was looking at the Thunder Racing TR220 cam, looked like it made some serious power without being too terribly agressive.

 

[bwilly20]

whats the inch(height) measurement on some 285s? (sorry if i sound dumb, ive gotten a few diff answers!)

 

[boostaholic]

Really easy to cam these trucks, couple hours depending on what you're doing (springs, rockers, etc). They make it really simple tho.

 

[bwilly20]

and do i need a "special tool"??

 

[Yuke2K]

285s sit JUST under 33"...it's like 32.8xx IIRC.

As far as the tool goes, you'll either want to find someone with a torsion key removal tool, or use a good solid two jaw gear puller. Go hear for complete instructions:
http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums...keys-torsion-bar-cranking-replacing-tech.html

If you want to do spacers too (and I highly suggest it), you'll need, ideally, three big floor jacks and two jack stands. One jack/stand for each side of the truck, and one for under the rear diff to hold it up and let it down gently. Jack the rear up and take off the rear tires to make things easier. Then just unbolt the swaybar supports and the rear shock bolts, and lower the rear end down until you can lift the rear springs enough to stuff the coil spacers underneath. Mind the little rubber boot at the bottom, you need to keep that! It's much, much easier on a lift.

 

[importmd]

How many turns did you do on the front? hows the ride now? do you have shock issues? what would be a good replacement shock for a 3" lift?

 

[boostaholic]

Bilstein 5100's

Front:
BE5-C153-H0
Rear:
BE5-D147-H0

 

[Yuke2K]

Not sure about how many cranks. We painted index marks on the bolts and retainers when the stock keys were in, then installed the ford keys and had to back them off about 3 turns from the marks. The front was wicked high at stock index with the ford keys.

As for shock issues, none that I've experienced yet, but I don't offroad my rig that much - I haven't even taken it into the mountains with the new setup yet. I'm sure I'll have issues eventually so I'm planning on getting those 5100s that Boost has.

Ride was noticably more harsh in the front at first, but I've gotten used to it and can't even tell anymore. It's not bad at all. More than likely the shocks will help with that.

 

[boostaholic]

With the bilsteins it will ride like a truck, but will rally offroad and exudes handling prowess due to the gas charge. I can't wait to get mine, not sure if I'm gonna buy myself those for christmas or a brake upgrade lol. Honestly tho I think the bilsteins will ride much nicer than stock even with keys and cranked. My brother's dmax was like a new truck once I swapped some pro comp es9000s for the 5100s :yesnod:

 

[erickshoe]

Don't know if anyone is still checking out this thread or not but here goes. I have a 2003 Z71 with front keys and Nitto 285's 188k miles and still running awesome (knock on wood). It looks ok, but I want to lift the rear up slightly, like 1.5 inches or so. Right now it looks like a prerunner a bit. I wonder about the rear shock travel though and wether or not if I just put spacers on the rear if it will always be riding near the end of the rear shock travel causing a rough ride when it "tops out". Will the Bilstein 5100 BE5-D147-HO rear shock allow the spring to be loose when the truck is lifted up by the frame. Does anyone know the fully extended length of the rear shocks? Stock and these 5100's ?